It was the hottest April on record in the NASA dataset. More significantly, following fast on the heels of the hottest March and hottest Jan-Feb-March on record, it’s also the hottest Jan-Feb-March-April on record [click on figure to enlarge].

The record temperatures we’re seeing now are especially impressive because we’ve been in “the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century.” It now appears to be over. It’s just hard to stop the march of manmade global warming, well, other than by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, that is.

Most significantly, NASA’s March prediction has come true: “It is nearly certain that a new record 12-month global temperature will be set in 2010.″

Our dependence on foreign sources of oil is a problem, but it isn't the real problem. Our dependence on dangerous drilling in fragile ecosystems is a problem, but it isn't the real problem.

The real problem is our dependence on fossil fuels. It doesn't matter where they come from, and it doesn't matter how they are drilled or mined. We cannot continue to burn fossil fuels. We have to create the technologies and the infrastructure, we have to educate the public and give people real alternatives, and we have to act as if we are in a crisis. Because we are. And it cannot be said often enough.